Turnabout Wedding
by Richforce
Summary: Cases of the Heart: episode two. Phoenix has just gotten married, but the wedding soon leads to the trial of one his of new inlaws.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own only my own characters. The court system only applies to Phoenix Wright and does not reflect real world courts.

Cases of the Heart: episode two

Turnabout Wedding

"Do you Eliza take this man as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, to love honor and cherish, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health till death do you part?"

A hose was cut, a fluid leaked out.

"I do."

An Angel had a knife in her stomach.

"Do you Phoenix take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, to love honor and cherish, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health till death do you part?"

Keys were tapped on a computer.

"I do."

A car crashed against a concrete wall. The engine burst into flames.

"By the power invested in me I now pronounce you Husband and Wife."

Phoenix and Eliza gave each other a long kiss as all of the guests applauded.

* * *

September 23 5:22 PM 

Paradise Found Chapel

Reception Room

"That was a great speech Larry." I said. We were both wearing tuxedos.

"Thanks for making me your best man." said Larry. "I mean since Edgey is out of town and all."

"Would you imagine Edgeworth giving a speech about Phoenix and Eliza?" asked Maya. She was wearing a pink formal dress.

"I guess not."

"Thank you all." said Eliza. She was wearing the most beautiful wedding dress I had ever seen. "It means so much to us that you were able to come to our wedding."

"You both looked so beautiful up there." said Harumi. She was wearing a party dress.

"I thought you wanted me to marry Maya." I asked.

"She forgot about that ever since she started having her own crush." said Maya.

"I-it's nothing!" Harumi said with a blush. "We just go to school together!"

"Hope we aren't interrupting." said Detective Gumshoe as he came up with Eliza's father Detective Thomas Ness.

Thomas Ness was a tall and well built man with black hair that was starting to grey and green eyes. "Oh, Detective Gumshoe, Detective Ness."

"Please, just call me Dad." said Thomas Ness.

"Uh, ok Dad."

"It's hard to believe that my little girl is all grown up and is starting a family of her own, if only your mother could have been able to see this."

"I wish she were here too." Eliza said. "I still can't believe it's been overten years."

"I know. Where has all the time gone?" he then turned to me. "Phoenix, Eliza chose to spend her life with you and I have never known her to choose poorly."

"Oh daddy…"

"You two are perfect together." said Detective Gumshoe. "Welcome to the family pal!"

"Hey how's the bride and groom!" said a man with brown hair and blue eyes.

"Just fine Uncle Eddie." said Eliza.

Eddie Hanson was the brother of Eliza's deceased mother. He worked as an auto mechanic and from what I could tell he and Detective Ness didn't always get along well.

"Ok I need the bride and groom to cut the cake!" said our wedding planner Sunny Dawn. She had blue and blonde hair and for all the world looked like a sixties sitcom mom. I'm not quite sure why she volunteered to plan our wedding for so cheep, she says it's because I'm such a famous attorney, still I don't know…

"Come on Nicky," said Eliza. "Everybody's waiting for us!"

"Coming." I said.

The reception party continued with a joyous atmosphere. After we cut the cake we danced, dined, sat through a show our parents put together with some tapes of us growing up and after we left… Well you can probably guess what happened.

* * *

September 24 7:14 AM 

Hotel Cabal

Suite 507

I woke to see Eliza right next to me. Her eyes opened and met mine. "Good morning darling." She said.

"Good morning my love; Yesterday and last night was…"

"Heavenly, I know."

We gave each other a quick kiss and then I turned the TV to the morning news. "Local police detective Thomas Ness was killed in an automobile accident at 11:45 PM last night. Detective Ness was last seen at the wedding of his daughter Eliza to noted defense attorney Phoenix Wright."

"D-Daddy!" Eliza shuttered. "NOOO!"

Eliza started crying but before I could start comforting her…

"This just in!" said the Anchor. "Edward Hanson, the brother in law of Thomas Ness, was just arrested for murder. According to the police Hanson had sabotaged Detective Ness' car causing the accident. He is currently being held in the Detention Center."

"No," said Eliza still crying. "Uncle Eddie would never do anything like that."

"Eliza." I hugged her tightly. "Dearest, I do what ever it takes to get the answers to this whole mess."

"Nicky, you have to defend him. I know you're the only one who can prove him innocent."

"Don't worry, I'll call Maya and meet her down at the office. You go down to the Detention Center and talk to your uncle, we'll meet you there."

I rushed over to the office where Maya gave me the Magatama Jewel; she told me that I got a package from Ema Skye that had some "wedding gifts" Luminol testing fluid and Aluminum flake power.

* * *

September 24 

Detention Center

Visitor's Room

"Oh God, Oh God, Oh God!" were the first words I heard as I came into the detention center. Eddie Hanson was wearing his auto mechanic's uniform.

"Uncle Eddie calm down!" said Eliza.

"I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm alive but I'm dead!"

"HOLD IT!" I yelled. "Get a grip! I'm going to defend you."

"Take some deep cleansing breaths and tell us what happened." said Maya.

"Ok." said Mr. Hanson after he started breathing. "I got up this morning and got dressed to go to work. As I steeped out of my apartment the police were waiting for me. They said I murdered my brother in law by cutting the hydraulic line of his breaks."

"Hydraulic line?"

"Its part of the breaking system, when you step on the breaks an oil-like fluid in the line amplifies the force of your foot. This is one of the forces in the breaking system that causes the car to stop. If the line is cut no force can be transferred and the breaks don't work."

"Ok what exactly happened out there?"

"From what I heard Tom was heading home from the wedding and got on the highway. When his exit was coming up he tried to slow down but the brakes failed. He caused another car to hit a concrete wall then ran headlong into another one; he was killed instantly. "

"Oh, daddy." Eliza said. "It's ok go on."

"But shouldn't the air bag have saved him?"

"That's the weird part; they say he was going 90 MPH at the time and metal becomes very pliable at those speeds. He was driving a classic car and it was more ridged than today's cars this caused the dashboard to impale him. The cops say he was drunk and that was why he was going so fast. But he only had one glass of wine at the wedding and it was around three hours between that drink and when he left. That would have been plenty of time for him to sober up."

"I know this is painful for you but why did they arrest you Mr. Hanson?"

"The Prosecutor said I had the means, the motive and the opportunity. My automotive knowledge meant I could have known what to do; there was a period at the end of the reception that I could have used to do it; and we haven't gotten along that well since the incident that happened between us."

The Magatama jewel glowed and I saw a Psycho Lock. (It must be because of that incident he mentioned. I'll have to remember this for later.)

"Where did this accident take place?"

"Highway 101, exit 27. It' shouldn't take you that long to get there."

"OK all I need now is a letter of request."

"Sure. Um, Phoenix, can I win?"

"It doesn't look that good, but there must be something that the police overlooked and I will find it."

"Yeah so don't worry." said Maya. "Eliza why don't you head home for right now, I'll be sure to take good care of Nick."

"Sure, but my home or Nicky's?"

"Oh that's right." I said. "We still haven't found a new house. Wherever you feel most comfortable, we'll all have time to mourn later."

* * *

September 24 

Highway 101

Exit 27

The police were directing traffic away from the accident site. A tall building was next to the highway. The car itself was crushed to near the midway point. A lot of debris was being labeled. "This is horrible." said Maya.

"It is quite a mess." I said.

"Hey there pal!" I heard Detective Gumshoe say. "I want that wreck examined top to bottom! If you find so much as a gum wrapper I want to know about it!"

"Y-Yes sir!" said a flustered officer.

"Detective Gumshoe sure is in a bad mood." said Maya.

"What would you expect?" I said. "His mentor was murdered."

"Oh hey Pal." said Detective Gumshoe. "I guess that you're defending Mr. Hanson then."

"I have his letter of request right here. So how is your investigation going?"

"To be perfectly honest I'm really just here to make sure all of this stuff gets labeled and cleared so we can keep traffic going."

"You're not investigating?" said Maya.

"Prosecutor Trojan said he prefers to do his own investigations."

"Trojan?"

"Prosecutor Lance Trojan, every one down at the precinct and the prosecutor's office call him the 'Magician of Prosecutors'."

"So he does magic tricks?"

"No, they call him that for the way he produces decisive evidence and witnesses seemingly out of thin air. A lot of the other prosecutors are jealous of him."

"Has he got anything right now?" I asked.

"Not sure, but I bet that right now he's questioning the witness."

"What witness?" Maya asked.

"Probably someone in the other car that was involved in the collision." I said.

"The driver, he's in pretty bad shape."

"So he's in the hospital?"

"Yeah, look I can give you the autopsy report, feel free to look around and you can talk to the witness at Pinecrest hospital."

"I thought you aren't allowed to tell us where the witness is?"

"Mr. Trojan told me to tell Mr. Hanson's lawyer. Even though it isn't always followed to the letter in the initial trail system these days he still believes in disclosure."

"Disclosure?" Maya asked.

"It means a prosecutor has to give me a list of all his evidence and witnesses in order to prevent a mistrial." I answered

"Well anyway here's the autopsy report." said Detective Gumshoe. "The cut hydraulic line was already been taken away though."

"Thanks, by the way Mr. Hanson mentioned an incident that caused him and Detective Ness to be at odds do you know anything about it?"

Gumshoe scratched head and sighed. "I'm sorry but I can't tell you. Detective Ness made me promise not to talk about the RL-13 incident to anyone."

(RL-13 incident? So it was a police case?) "We'll look around a little first then head for the hospital." The Autopsy Report said that death came from heart failure sometime between 10:30 and 11:45 PM; his blood alcohol level was .01. Most of what was at the accident scene was just mangled debris, but as I came to a chair with blood what was marked as the driver's seat and I did a Luminol test.

"What is that stuff?" asked Maya.

"Luminol testing fluid, it allows you to see unseen blood stains, it seems as if there more blood here than is visible."

I showed the stains to Maya with the special glasses. "That's weird. Wouldn't most of the blood be on the dash board?"

"Yeah better make a note of it."

"Ouch! I hit something with my foot."

I took a closer look at the metallic box Maya hit. "Looks like a radio receiver, what's this doing here?"

"Maybe it was evidence in a case the Detective was working on."

"I think we should take this with us." I hid the Receiver in my briefcase. "Let's have a chat with that witness."

* * *

September 24 

Pinecrest Hospital

Room 202

"The Nurse said this was the room." said Maya.

"Who's there!" said a man who was in an almost full body cast.

"We're lawyers."

"You're too late; I already have an attorney who will force a settlement with the guy responsible for that accident."

"Uh, no; we're Mr. Hanson's lawyers." I said.

"I don't care if you're the Queen of Sheba! I found out that my insurance company won't touch my medical bills until they finished moving to New Delhi; the only way I can get my bills paid is to sue the murder!"

"Ok, let's start with your name."

"Carl Parker, I bet that you want me to tell you what happened last night, well no dice!"

"Ok how about this; if our client is found guilty then we'll convince him to settle in your favor."

"Nick, you sure is this a good idea?" whispered Maya.

"Yeah, Eliza says he's innocent and that's good enough for me."

"Ok we have a deal." said Carl.

"Alright tell us what happened."

"It was late last night; I was coming back from a convention in another town when this guy sideswiped me."

"So the sides of each of your cars collided then what?"

"We were next to each other for a second then I veered off and ran into a wall after braking. My seatbelt kept me alive, but the other guy wasn't so lucky."

"And made you think that it was murder?"

"He didn't slow down; at first I thought that it was because he was just trying to show off that sports car but since the prosecutor told me that the hydraulic line was cut it makes sense. It wasn't that he didn't stop, it's that he couldn't stop."

"And why does he think Eddie Hanson was the one who sabotaged the brakes?"

"He said he found a knife with the guy's fingerprints at the wedding chapel in a trash can right next to where the Detective parked."

"This looks bad." Maya whispered. "All of the evidence is pointing in Mr. Hanson's direction!"

"I think we better have another talk with him." I told Maya. "Thank you Mr. Parker I guess we'll see you in court."

* * *

September 24 

Detention Center

Visitor's Room

"Well how does it look?" asked Mr. Hanson.

"They found a knife with your fingerprints at the scene."

"I didn't kill him!"

"I'm not saying you did, but can you explain the knife. It may be crucial to our case."

"I found it in some bushes by the chapel; it was so rusted I threw it away."

"There's one more thing." I asked Mr. Hanson while holding the Magatama Jewel. "I was talking with Detective Gumshoe to see if I could find out about the incident that happened between you and Detective Ness and he mentioned a police case called RL-13. Nothing happened between the two of you, you were fighting over this case."

"Well you're a member of the family now; I guess I can tell you about RL-13." Mr. Hanson's Psycho lock was undone.

"Ok, tell us about RL-13!" said Maya.

"RL-13 was the case where Eliza's mother Gloria died."

"You mean it was a murder case?" I asked.

"Yes."

"But Thomas Ness was with Criminal Intelligence, not Homicide."

"He was allowed to investigate because the Shikabane Group suspected of involvement in the murder."

(The Shikabane Group, I haven't dealt with them since the Tres Bien case last year. Urami Shikabane, the granddaughter of their boss Gonta, was convicted of murder for helping Zenitora kill Takao Oka. She's now awaiting execution, I bet Gonta isn't too happy about that.)

"How were they involved?"

"It happened during a bank robbery and it seemed like the guys robbing the bank were working for the Shikabane Group. And while they were able to convict the killer, there was no direct evidence that the Shikabane Group was involved and the robbers would have rather gone to prison than squeal, they enjoyed breathing."

"But how did that cause the two of you to fight?"

"He was outside the bank the whole time and I blamed him for not saving my sister. After that he made it his mission to put an end to the Shikabane group once and for all, but I guess he'll never get the chance now."

"Thanks, I better get going to prepare for the trail."

"Wait, before you go take this."

"A note?" asked Maya.

"Tom gave this to me the last time I saw him. It didn't make any sense to me but maybe you could figure it out."

The note consisted of one word, Dusk. I don't know what this means but I have to figure it out. Tomorrow I go up against the Magician of Prosecutors, Lance Trojan. I heard that he's like me in a way, he was able to pull out a few miracles to convict criminals that would have otherwise gotten away. A title was used to describe both off us and by the end of this trial only one of us can be the Turnabout King.

To be continued


	2. Chapter 2

September 25 10:00 AM

District Court

Courtroom no. 7

The audience murmured as the Judge banged his gavel. "Court is now in session for the trial of Mr. Edward Hanson."

"The Defense is ready your honor." said Phoenix.

"The Prosecution is ready your honor." said Lance Trojan. He had blonde hair and thick sideburns, green eyes and wore a green business suit with a blue tie.

(Lance Trojan.) Phoenix thought. (I guess it's time to see what the Magician has up his sleeves.)

"Very well the Prosecution may make its opening statement."

"Means, Motive and Opportunity; the prosecution intends to prove that Mr. Hanson had all three of these and the combination of them will prove that he sabotaged his brother in law's car with an intent to kill and at his own niece's wedding no less."

"Very well you may call your first witness."

"The Prosecution calls the detective in charge of the investigation." Dick Gumshoe took the stand. "I'm sure everyone here is familiar with Detective Gumshoe. Detective, please describe to the court the events of the night of the 23rd of this month."

"Yes sir." said Gumshoe. "On the day in question there was a wedding between Eliza Ness, the daughter of the victim Thomas Ness, and the defense attorney Phoenix Wright. Around 11:30 PM the victim left the Paradise Found wedding chapel after the end of the ceremony and the reception in his car. Fifteen minutes later he and another vehicle sideswiped each other. The victim was going around 90 miles per hours and the other car going around 50. Shortly after that both cars collided with a concrete wall. The driver of the other car sustained heavy injuries, Detective Ness was killed."

"Very well, please testify as to the results of your investigation."

* * *

Witness Testimony: The investigation

"The day after the wedding I went to investigate the wreck. After careful examination we discovered evidence of sabotage. That evidence alone was shaky, but after investigating where the sabotage had to take place we found the decisive we needed to make an arrest."

"A textbook testimony." said Lance. "Mr. Wright you may cross-examine the witness."

"Wait I'm the one who's supposed to say that." said the Judge.

"I'm sorry your honor, I just wanted to be polite to Mr. Wright."

"Nick." said Maya. "What's with this guy? For a prosecutor he seems kind of nice."

"Maybe he's trying to lead us into a trap, but if I want to prove Mr. Hanson innocent I have to through with it."

* * *

Cross-Examination: The investigation

"What was the evidence that proved it was sabotage?"

"It was the cut hydraulic line; the cut was too clean to be caused by the collision." It appeared to be a simple rubber hose cut in the middle.

"And what was the evidence that led to Mr. Hanson's arrest?"

"The rusted knife we found in the trash can next to where Detective Ness parked. The fingerprints on the knife match the defendant's." The knife was sharp in spite of being covered in rust.

"And there you have It." said Lance with a shrug. "Proof that the Defendant sabotaged the brakes and tried to hide the evidence of his crime."

"Yes this seems to be very concrete." said the Judge.

"OBJECTION!" said Phoenix. "There is a major contradiction with the Prosecution's claim."

"Exactly what is this contradiction?" asked Lance.

"That knife could not have been used to cut the hydraulic line!"

"And I suppose you have proof of this?"

"Yes, here's my proof! This knife is covered in rust, now examine the hydraulic line."

The Judge took the line. "Wait a minute; there's no rust on the line!"

"Bravo Mr. Wright." said Lance. "It took you about half as long as I thought it would take for you figure that out."

"Wait, you mean you tried to convict the defendant with faulty evidence!"

"I was just stating the argument of the police department Your Honor; I would have noted the problem before a verdict was reached. I simply decided to use the opportunity to see the defense's abilities first hand. I apologize, both for this ruse and the police's faulty investigation."

"We do our best." said Detective Gumshoe.

"Very well, just don't let it happen again!" said the Judge.

"OBJECTION!" said Phoenix. "The prosecution's argument has been proven to be baseless!"

"OBJECTION!" said Lance. "I wouldn't pursue the case further if I didn't have more evidence to support my claims."

"More evidence?" Phoenix said sweating.

"Before I was just testing you," Lance slammed his hand on the bench. "Now we're going to play hardball! You see the hydraulic line wasn't cut by that knife but this one!" He presented a pearl handled knife.

"But that's the knife we used to cut the wedding cake!" said Phoenix.

"I ran a chemical test on this knife, traces of brake fluid were found on it as well as the fingerprints of only four people; the groom Phoenix Wright, the bride Eliza Wright, the wedding planner Sunny Dawn and the defendant Edward Hanson. The bride and groom both have an alibi that we do not need to go into detail here and the wedding planner was still at the reception, that leaves only one suspect left; The defendant, Edward Hanson!"

The audience murmured. The Judge banged his Gavel. "Order in the court! Mr. Trojan this seems very firm evidence but…"

"You want the witness to testify. Very well, it will only serve to solidify the prosecution's case."

"Very well, the court will have a 20 minute recess then we shall hear from this witness." The judge banged his gavel. "Court is now is recess!"

* * *

September 25 11:52 AM

District Court

Defense Lobby No. 3

"Lance is no pushover!" I said. "Mr. Hanson, can you tell me why you picked up the cake knife?"

"Well, Ms. Dawn dropped it while she was setting up for the reception so I picked it up and gave it back to her. In fact she gave me a kiss."

"Mr. Hanson this is serious!" said Maya. "You could go to prison or worse!"

"Sorry."

"Is there anything else you're not telling us?" I asked.

"Not that I know of."

"Since neither Eliza nor I sabotaged the brakes it either was either Sunny Dawn or somebody wearing gloves."

"But why would she kill Detective Ness?" asked Maya. "She didn't know him for that long before the wedding."

"I don't know and we can't discount the fact that someone else did and was wearing gloves to cover their tracks."

"Court is about to reconvene. We better get back."

* * *

September 25 12:11 PM

District Court

Courtroom No. 7

The judge banged his gavel again. "This court shall now reconvene. Mr. Trojan you say you have a witness to call?"

"Yes, Your Honor. One that will prove that Detective Ness met his end through sabotage; the Prosecution calls Mr. Carl Parker to the stand."

Carl came up in a wheelchair with a broken leg extended outward. As he approached the witness stand he hit his cast against the stand. "Yeeeeargh!"

Just then a gut wearing a business suit came in. "Oh that is bad, that stand is not very PC."

"Excuse me." said Phoenix. "But who are you?"

"I'm Mr. Parker's Attorney; Lyle Dewy of the Dewy, Cheetem and Howe law firm."

(Do we cheat 'em and how? Why do I get the feeling that someone's going to lose a lot of money?)

"Yep this stand is inaccessible to someone with Mr. Parker's injury, we could sue for negligence."

The Judge stammered "Are you sure you should..."

"OBJECTION!" said Lance. "Mr. Parker if you would position yourself in front of the stand then maybe we could settle this after the trial? We are here to determine if Edward Hanson killed Thomas Ness, not to debate this courtroom's accessibility."

"Ok." said Parker.

(Lance sure shut him up.) Phoenix thought.

"State your name and occupation for the court." said Lance

"Carl Parker, I deal in sporting goods."

"Now on the night question you were driving home from a convention?"

"Yes sir."

"Will you testify to the court as to what happened on your way home?"

* * *

Witness Testimony: The Drive

"It was around 11:45 and I was driving along highway 101. I heard a crunching sound and felt my car shake. I looked over to the side of my car and I saw a car had sideswiped me. He then peeled off and ran headlong into a concrete wall. I was so shocked I didn't notice that I was doing the same. I then ran into a wall myself but I survived, even though I broke almost every bone in my body."

The Judge mused for a moment. "Hmmm, very well; Mr. Wright you may begin your cross-examination."

* * *

Cross-Examination: The Drive

"About what time did you leave from the convention center?"

"It was about 5:00 PM."

"And did you stop on your drive?"

"Just near the start to pump for gas, I knew that I would be a long drive and I wanted to get home as soon as possible."

"Mr. Parker your testimony strikes me as, a little weird."

"What was weird about it?"

"Well if I was involved with an accident like that I would notice details like what type of car it was and who was driving it. You however mentioned neither of these."

"OBJECTION!" said Lance. "He did crash at the scene of Thomas Ness' death."

"OBJECTION!" said Phoenix. "That was not the point of my question. The point is that why didn't he recall these things as he was remembering the collision. Do you have an explanation Mr. Parker?"

"N-Not really." Parker looked nervous.

"I however do. Mr. Parker was driving late at night and he was driving since 5:00 PM. Mr. Parker had to have been fatigued and he was drowsy when the crash happened and that's why he couldn't recall details as he was giving his testimony."

"But I didn't fall asleep; I wasn't responsible for the collision! It was his fault!"

"Then maybe you should revise your testimony." said the Judge.

* * *

Witness Testimony: It Was His Fault

"I was going around 50 MPH and he blazed by at 90 MPH. He was the one who ran into me. And from how much he was swerving the guy was obviously drunk!"

"Oh, is that all? Then the Defense may cross-examine the witness."

"Nick, where is this going?" asked Maya.

"I think he's trying to save his settlement." said Phoenix. "But I have to get to the truth."

* * *

Cross-Examination: It Was His Fault

"You say that the victim was drunk?"

"That was the whole point of my testimony."

"But that statement directly contradicts the autopsy report! His blood alcohol level at the time of death was 0.01 the legal limit is 0.08. A blood alcohol level that low would not impair his judgment very much; if he was in danger odds are he would have been able to avoid it!"

"What!"

"Mr. Parker, given the circumstances it more likely for us to believe that the wreck was caused by your drowsiness and not the single glass of wine he had at the wedding."

"B-B-B-B-But….ALRIGHT I WAS FALLING ASLEEP, I DIDN'T MEAN TO LIE, I ONLY DID IT BECAUSE I THOUGHT THAT IT WOULD HURT MY CLAIM!"

"Oh, this doesn't look so profitable anymore." said Dewy

Lance slammed his hand on the bench. "Mr. Parker, I place my trust in my witnesses. If my witnesses lie it makes me look like a fool and I don't like looking like a fool. You will tell the court the truth in its entirety, now!"

"Good luck kid, you're on your own." said Dewy as he left.

"Alright, I'll talk."

(Don't worry.) Phoenix thought. (After this is over I'll recommend you to a lawyer who won't run out on you.)

* * *

Witness Testimony: What Really Happened

"I was starting to fall asleep at the wheel; I didn't notice the other car until it was too late. But that jolt shook me awake! I turned away but ended up hitting a wall. He just kept speeding right into the wall further away. After I saw him crash I passed out and woke up in the hospital hours later."

"I hope for your sake you are telling the truth this time Mr. Parker." said Lance. "I'd rather have a witness that tells a truth that damages my case than one that strengthens it through lying."

"Mr. Wright if you will." said the Judge.

* * *

Cross-Examination: What Really Happened

"The Victim didn't slow down, not even slightly?"

"Not at all."

"But isn't that a little odd? I would have at least gotten my foot of the gas and try to get inertia to slow down the car."

"What's your point Wright?" asked Lance.

"The victim could have slowed down at least a little but he didn't, why?"

"Don't look at me!" said Parker.

"Don't worry I think I can answer that question."

"I hope you can back up your answer Mr. Wright." said the Judge. "Tell the court why the victim didn't slow down; be aware you must present proof."

"This is my proof!" Phoenix said while presenting the radio receiver.

"This…What is this thing anyway?"

"A radio receiver, Your Honor. This device accepts radio signals and uses them to operate machinery. Your Honor, this is why Detective Ness didn't slow down. SOMEONE WAS CONTROLLING HIS CAR BY REMOTE!"

"OBJECTION!" said Lance. "A very interesting theory but there is one problem; the victim had enough time to jump and roll from the car, he might have sustained some serious injuries but he had a better chance than in an out of control car. So tell me why he didn't jump!"

"I'll tell you and I'll even use evidence to prove it! Take a look at this, the driver's seat of the victim's car. It's covered with his blood."

"He was skewered by his dashboard, of course there's blood!"

"It's not that blood is on here that's the problem, but how much blood. If he was impaled most of the blood would be on the dash board, only a small amount would be on the seat. This evidence says that he was pierced from behind, Mr. Trojan when Thomas Ness crashed into the wall at the highway HE WAS ALREADY DEAD!"

The audience murmured and the judge banged his gavel. "Order! Order in the court!"

"OBJECTION!" said Lance. "Then why did the murderer go through the trouble cutting the brake line if the victim was already dead?"

"The murder's original plan was to operate the car by remote and make it look like an accident." said Phoenix. "In order to make as swift a kill as possible the break line had to be cut in order to insure that he couldn't stop the car, who ever it was didn't expect Mr. Parker to be there when the road was supposed to be empty. But then the victim found the murder while he was sabotaging the car. With the knife already in hand it would have been easy to stab the victim in the back. After that it all falls into place, the murderer put the body into the car and removed the knife causing blood to spill on the seat. Then the murderer had controlled the car and crashed it into the wall in order to cover up the murder."

"That is farfetched but I can't deny the possibility of your claim." said Judge.

"OBJECTION!" said Lance. "Mr. Wright is most likely correct, however if anything this supports the Prosecution's claim, Mr. Hanson is the only one at that wedding who had the knowledge to pull off something like this. However I do not have any firm evidence on this theory, and unless the Defense has evidence that proves that Mr. Hanson is not the killer, I would like to suspend today's proceedings in order to further investigate this new development."

"Does the Defense have any objections?"

"None Your Honor." said Phoenix. "I would also like pursue my own investigation."

"Very well, this trail shall be suspended until tomorrow. There shall be only one more extension after this." The Judge banged his gavel. "Until then court is adjourned."

* * *

September 25 2:14 PM

District Court

Defendant Lobby No. 3

"Well at least we're getting closer to the truth." I said. "Maya this means that the murder definitely happened at the chapel after Eliza and I left."

"Its horrible." said Eliza. "That was supposed to be the happiest day of our lives and someone was just using it to kill my father."

"Don't worry dearest. I'll get to the bottom of this."

"Thanks Phoenix." said Eddie. "I really appreciate this."

"We're not out of the woods yet, but at least there's a little light in the gloom."

"But will that light last?" I heard. I turned around and saw Lance Trojan had just entered the room. "I hope that I'm not interrupting something important."

"What are you doing here Mr. Trojan?"

"We're out of the courtroom now Phoenix, just call me Lance. I just wanted to introduce myself to Mia Fey's understudy."

"You knew my sister?" asked Maya.

"We crossed in the courtroom a couple of times. Some of my hardest earned victories were against her; the day she died I lost my worthiest opponent."

"There's something I wanted ask you." I said. "Why did you give us the chance to continue the trial?"

"Phoenix, I take my job too seriously to take my job too seriously."

"What?"

"If I stop at nothing to prove the defendant guilty then I would lose the trust of my witnesses. I trust them as much as you trust your clients, we each take the risk that they may deceive us but we do it in order to find the truth."

"Lance, you would have made a great defense attorney."

"Well I better get going and conduct my investigation that is after I pick up my son from school."

"You have a son?"

"He's my pride and joy. Ken is a great kid; I'd do anything for him. Well I better get going; see you in the courtroom tomorrow." Lance then left.

"Uh what's with that guy?" asked Eddie.

"He may be friendly." said Maya. "But we can't let our guards down."

"Right." I said. "We better give the chapel a closer look."

To be continued.


End file.
